


Matchmaker

by TheLookingGlass_7



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:29:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9425912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLookingGlass_7/pseuds/TheLookingGlass_7
Summary: (1) Never get too involved with your matches, and (2) Never fall for one--these were the two cardinal rules of Jones and Jones Matchmaking services. The mother-daughter duo were the best in the business, but attending one too many weddings has left Mercedes feeling lost and lonely. As a successful businessman in his own right, Mike has everything he could ever need--except for love. A phone call leads to a remedy and a chance for happiness. Now Mercedes has to find the sweet, funny and cute Mike a match--no problem, until she starts falling for him herself. Will Mercedes break the rules to get her own happy ending?





	1. Chapter 1

Mercedes sat in the crowded synagogue and cheered as Artie rolled over the glass under his wheelchair.  She stood up, smoothed her teal floral dress down, and clapped as Tina jumped in Artie’s lap and kissed her husband happily. No matter how many weddings she attended, each and every one was beautiful.

And this being Tina and Artie’s ceremony made it extra special. See, Artie had been a fixture at the matchmaking firm for years. Jones and Jones had many difficult clients but Artie took the cake. The Hollywood blockbuster-making, academy award winning director refused to budge on his criteria for a perfect mate. She had to be blond, athletic but not too muscular, tall but not too tall, had to love video games, animals and appreciate his films. She needed to speak more than one language and be someone who was independent enough to cope with his long work hours and frequent flyer miles.

After turning down engineers, professional cheerleaders, and an investment banker, Artie finally agreed with Mercedes that most of the items on his ‘to-do list’ were a little more like fantasy and not grounded in reality. He decided to have one last mixer where he promised to open his mind and close (to the best of his ability) his mouth.

In walked Tina. With her colored hair and shredded black midi dress. Artie ignored her completely and Tina was more than content to drink the free wine and eat the cocktail shrimp. It was only when he accidently bumped into her as he went to grab a drink that she caught his eye. He smiled at her, she rolled her eyes.

And the rest was history.

Well, not really.

After their run in, Tina dismissed Artie and told him to flock to his gaggle of blonde Barbie’s. Artie side-eyed and looked around. Tina was right: every girl there looked the same. He looked over at Mercedes and realized she wasn’t lying: he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for by doing what he’d always done.  He adjusted his glasses and asked Tina about herself. The irritated girl opened up slowly, without realizing, and proceeded to spend all night talking and laughing with Artie.

Now they were married and one throwaway line about finding his fiancée from Artie at an awards show sent Jones and Jones into the next stratosphere. They were booked well into the next year and with that came new demands from their clientele. A-list celebrities and high-profile politicians soon sought out Mercedes and her mother for their matchmaking services because if they could help the fickle and difficult Artie, they could help anyone find love. Confidentiality clauses, divaesque demands, kowtowing fragile egos and placating deep-seated insecurities soon followed.

It was exhausting. And overwhelming. And rewarding. And scary.

Mercedes smiled as Tina walked up to her and wrapped her in a warm hug. “Thank you so much, Mercedes.” With tears in her eyes, Tina thanked Mercedes and invited the girl to the reception. Mercedes took a lumbering breath and hugged Tina back. Mercedes declined Tina’s invitation gracefully and headed home. She’d already broken enough rules tonight.

With every successful match, Mercedes had to fight the twinge of sadness threating to bubble to the surface. She loved making others happy but wondered if she would ever get her chance at love.

_Always a matchmaker, never anyone’s match._

* * *

 

Mike smiled at the happy couple as they left the synagogue. He’d known Artie since high school and never thought he would get married. For a while, Artie was the biggest slut he knew. Now he was married. And not to a blonde bimbo but to someone with substance. Tina challenged him. Frustrated him, and it was good to see Artie rattled.

This wedding was a welcomed distraction in an otherwise chaotic couple of months. Merging two multi-billion dollar companies wasn’t easy, especially the way his company acquired its largest competitor.

He wouldn’t bemoan his success. You wanted to turnaround your company after a CEO scandal sends stocks plummeting? You call Mike Chang. Need to turn a fledgling business into a billion-dollar juggernaut? Get Mike’s number on speed dial.  From Hong Kong to London, Shanghai, New York, San Francisco, Dubai and everywhere in between--when everything was going wrong Mike was called to make things right. Still, being the toast of the town didn’t erase the loneliness he felt at arriving home to an empty house. Sure, he could fill his bed easily, and he had on several occasions, but his heart? That was another animal.

The wedding was making him think about how cold his condo became. He had all the success he could dream of and was lonelier than anyone he knew. And now that Artie was married he was the last one in their group still single. But he wouldn’t say he was single. Was he alone? Yes. Lonely?  Hell yes. But he had stock reports and meetings to keep him busy and a beautiful Jaguar in his private garage to keep him warm.

Still, it wasn’t enough. And he couldn’t help but feel a little envious of his long-time friend. Because despite all his success and prosperity, Mike couldn’t help but find himself _lacking_.

He wanted what Artie and Tina had. He could finally admit that to himself. He would trade all the money and accolades in a minute for a girl he could play connect four with all night. One who would color his dark and dreary apartment. One who could color his world.

Moving the shiny black and gold embossed business card between his knuckles, he came home from the reception and sat on his white leather sofa. Classical music played and Mike sipped a tumbler of whiskey while he mulled over his next move. Downing the drink, he put the glass down on his coffee table and picked up his phone.


	2. The Phony and the Machine

“Are you listening?” Violetta Jones screeched her question into the phone. She was sure her daughter was doing a million things on the other line—and listening was guaranteed to not be one of them. But she had to talk some sense into Mercedes--her daughter’s big heart was going to get the business in trouble sooner or later.

“I hear you, mom.” Mercedes rolled her eyes as she rubbed lotion on her skin. She just got home from the Cohen-Chang-Abrams wedding and the last thing she wanted was a lecture. All Mercedes wanted was a shower, a nice glass of wine, and a quiet night—at least she could have 2 of those things.

“You know the rules, sweetie. Once we match our clients, our jobs are done. We cannot involve ourselves in their relationship. Don’t you remember what happened with your cousin?”

Ah yes, the old Jasmine defense. A few years ago, her little cousin interned at the firm to get real-world experience outside of her business major. She was a fast learner, and soon went from filing to creating profiles for their clients. Things went haywire when one of their clients stopped dating his match and pursued her cousin. After getting fired by her aunt and threatened with a lawsuit, Jasmine left the business with little fanfare. Sure, her mom was quick to remind her what happened to Jasmine.  But Violetta never said boo about the fact that Jasmine now had two kids and one on the way with their former client—her now husband of 4 years. It seems he got exactly what he paid for—his perfect match.

And Violetta never got over the ‘lack of professionalism’ her cousin showed.

So now Mercedes had to sit through another speech about staying out of her clients’ lives. And although Mercedes saw the importance in supporting their matches throughout their relationship, even thought it would be good for business, there was no convincing Violetta.

_Her mother never could see her point of view._

“I understand but Mom, Artie was one of our biggest clients. I thought it was in our best interest to attend a wedding we helped make happen.”

Violetta shook her head. “No, you wanted to attend because you got too close to _Artie_ and _Tina_. How many times do I have to tell you? Being friendly with your clients is important, but becoming friends? That should never happen. There’s a line, and we have to draw it.” She sighed. Her daughter had been burning the candle at both ends since she started working, perhaps she would benefit from some time off. And Mercedes wasn’t hearing her. Yeah, she should probably try a gentler approach. “Baby, you have had nonstop clients for years. You’re the best—levelheaded, smart, and efficient. But I’m worried about burnout. So listen, I have this new client—“

Mercedes grabbed a wine glass from her cabinet. No one but her mom would tell her she works too much while piling on more work.

But her mom never skipped a beat. “He’s a successful executive, and is looking for someone to share his life with. He called me tonight, seemed a little hesitant, but I think you can help him out. His name is Mike Chang—I’ve sent you over his profile. He’s very busy, but has time to meet with you tomorrow. I’m telling you, if you take on this client, after he gets matched, I want you to take a two-week vacation—on me.”

Did Mercedes really have a choice?

Grabbing the wine bottle, Mercedes uncorked and poured a healthy glass before grabbing her laptop.  Mercedes opened the profile and spent too much time looking at his picture. Mike was immaculate--his suit was expensive, there wasn’t a hair out of place. He looked like a model. His stance exuded strength, power, and _vulnerability_. In her line of work, Mercedes got pretty good at reading people, at finding the things they tried to hide. She always thought those things, the ones people thought made them less than perfect, actually made them unique, beautiful and attractive to their match. She could tell he took great pains to hide his vulnerability, probably didn’t even realize it was there but she found it. And it made her want to learn more about him.  Everything she needed to see was in his eyes—they held incredible kindness and sadness. She should know—it’s a look she saw in her own eyes.

_And a lot more recently._

“Mercedes? Girl, I know you’re still there.”

“Yeah, mom. I’m here. I’ll check out the profile and see you in the morning. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

 

Mike cleared his throat and checked the time on his Gold Rolex Submariner. It was his reward for his new contract. Mike had just gotten a 5 million dollar bonus after turning a small startup’s 10 million dollar loss in the first quarter into a 25 million dollar gain in the second—surely his confidence shouldn’t be faltering at the thought of going to a matchmaker. But it was, and despite all of his success, going to talk to someone about his love life made him feel like the gangly, shy and awkward teen he once was.

That was then--he was all about keeping up appearances now. Of faking-it-till-you-make-it. That’s how he got through paparazzi pics and newspaper articles and it would be how he got through this. Besides, it was high time to put his happiness first and Mike was determined to do just that. So if awkward conversation and an intrusive process would get him closer to the love that always seemed just out of his grasp, then dammit, he was going through with this.

Mike took a deep breath, ignored the small voice that told him to cancel the appointment, and opened the door to Jones and Jones.

Mercedes wasn’t sure about this one-- since last night she was trying to figure out who her client was. His profile showed him to be smart, kind, and reflective. But a quick search showed Mike to be arrogant, prideful and a playboy.

She was used to that with the clients she usually helped, but this time the differences rankled her. Was Mike the playboy or the sweetheart? Was he some combination of the two?

It was like Mike was two different people, or so committed to separating his public and private persona he appeared that way. Actors didn’t even show up as differently as Mike was.

Selfishly, she wanted him to be the guy from his profile—she needed to believe guys like that still existed. Guys that prioritized family, that were hard-working, but played hard too, those that were confident but humble.

And that quiet voice inside she’d been ignoring recently reminded her again to be objective. That this was just a job and he was just a client.

But if Mercedes was going to do her job, she needed to know the real Mike Chang.

When Mercedes’ assistant called and told her that Mike was here for their appointment, she schooled her features and readied herself to meet her new client.  

Mercedes wasn’t ready for what entered her office. Mike walked in as if he owned the room. His stride was pure power and damn if he wasn’t sexy as sin.

_Just like his picture._

He was tall, clean-shaven and the way he carried himself made you take notice. Forcing herself to focus on his face, Mercedes stood, offered Mike her hand to shake and added a gentle smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Chang. Please, take a seat.”

Mike gave himself another mental pep talk before he walked in the door. When he shook Mercedes’ hand, he instantly relaxed. She was warm, kind and her smile put him at ease. It didn’t hurt that she was easy on the eyes. Hell, who was he kidding—she was gorgeous. The short woman had more grace and poise than some of the models he dated, and the way her ass and legs looked in that dress was flirting on illegal.

_As Mike let go of her soft hand and took a seat, he wondered if she was soft all over._

Shaking his head slightly, Mike reminded himself Mercedes was there to find him a match, not to be ogled by one of her clients.

“Thank you for working with me, Ms. Jones.”

Mercedes nodded. She watched as he fiddled with his cuff links. Mike was nervous—it was natural. She worried when her clients weren’t at least a little nervous. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Mike made nervous look cute as hell. “Please, call me Mercedes.”

“Only if you call me Mike.”

Softening her voice, Mercedes offered Mike something to drink and grabbed the file on her desk. “I read your profile and I already have some clients in mind I think would make a strong match. Though I wonder—you seem to buy a successful and busy man. Why do you think you are ready for a relationship now? What’s changed?”

It took Mike a minute to answer. It felt like torture sharing his thoughts. “This is strange. I know you need me to open up, but in my line of business, that just paints a target on your back.” Mike set his coffee on her desk and stared at the ripples the move made before lifting his eyes back to Mercedes. “And maybe that is why I know I am ready now. I am tired of my life being all about my work. I have great friends and family but I worked 15, 20 hour days for longer than I care to admit. Recently, I’ve cut back. I have more money than I know what to do with, I’ve been lucky, successful. But what’s the point of it all without someone to share it with? I want to bring out the best in someone and I want someone to bring out the best in me—someone to call me on my shit and be in my corner. Is it wrong to want someone who will sit on the couch after a long day at work and share how their day was over a glass of wine?”

Mike moved his gaze back to his cup of coffee. “I’m surrounded by people all day, and I’ve never felt so alone.”

Mercedes offered a sad smirk. She knew the feeling. Not so long ago, having colleagues call her a machine was a source of pride and Mercedes wore the nickname like badge of honor. Now, it fed the hollow that seemed to grow every day. It reminded Mercedes how much of herself she lost in the name of success. It seemed that she and Mike were quite similar. Mercedes smoothed out her dress to stop herself from reaching for his hand. She needed to stay objective. “I am going to be asking you a few more questions to get a better sense of what you’re looking for. After that, we will set up a few mixers in the upcoming weeks and narrow our search. Do you have any questions before we begin?”

He was a little disarmed at the way she was assessing him. All business and with eagle-eyes, she watched his movements. Mike felt she was judging his every move and word. Younger Mike would have cowered, but now he knew exactly what to do.  He had to get away from that feeling, that little persistent voice inside that told him he would never be good enough.

_The one that sounded a lot like his father’s._

Quickly, he turned on the charm. Mike unbuttoned one of the buttons on his jacket and gave her a plastic smile. “None at all. Ask away.”

 _Okay_. Mercedes felt the shift almost immediately. He went from guarded and unsure to confident in the blink of an eye. It would have been fine if it wasn’t fake as hell. At this rate, it would be a long session. “What does love mean to you?”

Without missing a beat, Mike responded. “Love is a strong, lasting commitment between two people. That’s what I want.”

Mercedes fought hard to refrain from rolling her eyes. Great, his answer was straight out of an online dating commercial.  Even worse, the words he said didn’t even match his profile responses. Mercedes hoped Mike wasn’t wasting time with a PR relationship, quite a few of her matches had pretended to be looking for love but were only looking for more fame. They could go on The Bachelor for that. If their intentions weren’t genuine, they weren’t matched. That was one of their firm’s golden rules—and no-one dared to go against one of Violetta’s rules. Deciding to give the benefit of the doubt, Mercedes asked a clarifying question. “Can you say a little bit more about that?”

Mike shrugged. He could say plenty more about love but he had already shared too much. “Well, like the song says: _All you need is Love_.”

Mercedes’ eyes narrowed as she sat back in her seat. “I see. Can I be honest with you, Mr. Chang--Mike? I’m not sure if I can find you a match because I’m not sure who you are. I see your public persona, the articles I pulled up from a Google search, but that man differs from the one who wrote this profile and is sitting in front of me now. If the public persona is the real you, great, I can line up some potential matches for that guy. If not, I’ll be wasting a lot of people’s time trying to find matches that don’t suit you.

It’s incredibly important for me to get a sense of what you like, what you want out of life so I can find you the best possible match and give you both the best possible opportunity for a long successful life together. I need you to be completely honest.

Is this really you?” She pointed to the magazine, which was opened to the unfortunate article with the blurry picture of him with his hands up a model’s dress and his tongue down her throat at a children’s charity event. “Are you the guy who has models fighting over you at charity events and crashes expensive cars? Or are you the guy that spent weekends mentoring kids? Who were you before the magazine covers, the money, and the women? I guess what I’m asking is, which one is the _real_ Mike Chang?”

A little rattled, Mike shifted in his seat. This tiny matchmaker was judging him? Did she not understand how difficult it is to be vulnerable in front of others? Especially strangers? As a businessman, vulnerability was weakness, now this preachy (albeit right) woman was asking him to talk about deepest desires. Michel Chang businessman he could do in his sleep, but Mike, just Mike, he hadn’t shown that to anyone in a long time.

But he had to, right? The whole point of being here was to take a risk. Maybe she’d find him someone he could grow old with. A few uncomfortable questions were a small price to pay for the possibility of a happier life. 

“I’m sorry—you’re right. The real Michael Chang is the guy that his friends just call Mike. He hates cameras and attention. He’s quiet and a loner—all qualities that will tank any businessman. And to answer your question, I know what love is--Love is my parents, and what they had. As I kid, I thought you had to have these big declarations these public shows of affection for love to be real.  And I thought my parents were miserable. They never did anything together, at least of what I could see, and they weren’t very affectionate. My dad would take me out every Saturday and mom would just stay behind.  I knew my dad loved me, he always told me, but I never heard him say it to my mom. I asked my mom, one Valentine’s Day why she was with my dad when he didn’t even love her. She turned to me with this anger and disappointment that I never saw before and told me my father loved her very much and that he was the most romantic man she had ever known.”

He looked down slightly and continued. “It wasn’t until I was older, a few years ago actually, that I realized how wrong I was. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and my father was there every step of the way. He’d sing to her at night, read to her in the morning and when she was especially weak, he’d carry her to their bedroom. I never once heard him complain, and when my mom died—it was the first time I’d ever seen my father cry. He was devastated, he couldn’t even eat or sleep in their bedroom.

I want that—the love that comes from a deep understanding of the other. I learned that love doesn’t have to be showy to be real it’s in the little everyday things you can show your love. There’s a comfort. In fact, I want a love that grows from friendship. One where each part of my life is enhanced because I have a _partner_ to go through all of it—good, bad, and everything in-between, with me.”

Mike stood, knowing he revealed too much, feeling too exposed to stay and angry that he had shared so much. “I think my time is up.”

 _Shit_ …Mercedes sat back in her chair. His words made her melt a little. In her last relationship, her ex-fiancé was all about the public declarations but when push came to shove, he showed her what he truly thought. He said he loved her but showed he only loved the chase. And when he caught Mercedes, he got bored.

Hearing Mike say he wanted a love that was broken in—one that was a true partnership made her realize all that was wrong in her last relationship.

Mercedes wanted that kind of love too, and she would do all that she could to make sure Mike got his.  

“Okay, let’s pick this up at another time. And Mike?”

He turned back toward her.

“Be yourself, the guy that answered these profile questions and the one I just met is remarkable. Please don’t underestimate all that you bring to the table--The girls are going to love you.”

Mike took a deep fortifying breath and smiled. A genuine smile that made his eyes shine. “Thank you. Until next time, Mercedes.”

Mercedes hoped her smirk and nod didn’t give away her heartbeat’s rapid response to his smile. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Mike.”


End file.
